


Don't Get Too Close (It's Dark Inside)

by missbecky



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Ultron - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2013-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-06 04:24:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1102363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky/pseuds/missbecky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony never expected his downfall to come at the hands of a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Get Too Close (It's Dark Inside)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [greatbriton](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greatbriton/gifts).



> For Briton, who wanted villain!Rhodey. Previously posted to Tumblr.

The really sucky thing about being right all the time is that sooner or later, you're going to be right about something you really really _don't_ want to be right about.

"I knew I shouldn't have asked you to check out Pym's lab," Tony says. He tugs weakly at the cuffs, but it's mostly just for show. He's not going anywhere and he knows it.

"No, you did exactly the right thing," Rhodey says. He still sounds so damn earnest, which really hurts. If he were grandstanding, twirling an invisible mustache and strutting about like some one-dimensional villain, this would all be easier to bear.

Not that "this" is easy. Only two hours ago he was just getting the first alert about an incident at Hank Pym's lab and asking Rhodey to check it out, claiming that he was too busy to do it himself. Only one hour ago he was getting the call from Rhodey asking him to meet up at an old warehouse that had an excellent view of the lab from across the street.

He never saw it coming. Never expected betrayal from this quarter. 

"You actually did me a favor," Rhodey says. He stands a little distance away, as relaxed-looking as a man wearing a suit of armor can get. The light behind the eye shields glows red, though, not white. The HUD will be all in red, too, the AI vanished into Ultron's programming.

Tony doesn't care about that. War Machine can be melted into scrap for all he cares right now. All he cares about is the man inside.

"Rhodey? If you're still in there—"

"Why are you talking like that?" Rhodey says. He sounds honestly puzzled now. "Of course I'm still here. It's me, Tone."

Like hell it is, and Tony says, "Let me see him. I want to see his face," and he's not pleading, he's really not.

The faceplate slides open and there is Rhodey, looking the same as ever, and Tony could just about cry. He doesn't know how it happened, although part of his brain is fast at work on figuring it out (it's the neural uplink, it has to be, smash it and he gets Rhodey back, please God), and he doesn't really care. It happened, is what matters, and now he has to deal with it.

"It" being this _thing_ standing here, wearing his friend's face.

"Hey, man," Rhodey says. "It's cool. It's okay." He takes a single step forward, one gauntleted hand rising a little as though in a gesture of comfort. "I get it. But you don't have to worry anymore, Tony."

_Yeah right_ , Tony thinks, and tugs again at the handcuffs holding him to the exposed pipes.

"You came so close on your own, you know," Rhodey says. "Building the suits. Programming JARVIS. Now you just need a little help to go the rest of the way."

"I can get to crazy all on my own, thanks," Tony mutters. His job now is clear. He has to stall for time. It's got to be at least twenty minutes since his arrival, since Rhodey blindsided him and knocked him out, since he woke up out of the armor, standing with his arms over his head, shackled to the wall. The suit is off to one side, barely visible in his peripheral vision. In another ten minutes, JARVIS will notify the Avengers, alerted by his lack of contact.

All he's got to do is hold out for a little while longer.

"Aspiring to perfection is not crazy," Rhodey admonishes him.

"No," Tony snaps, "but mindmelding with an insane AI is!"

Rhodey just shakes his head, a small smile on his face. It's a smile of fond exasperation, the way he's been smiling at Tony for twenty years now. "Aren't you the one always saying we should embrace change, move into the future?"

"Not like this," Tony says, and tries again. "Rhodey, listen to me. I know you're in there, I know you can hear me. You've gotta fight this, you've gotta—"

"I'm right here," Rhodey says. He takes another step forward and rests one gloved hand on Tony's cheek. The metal should feel cold; instead it feels sickeningly warm, almost like flesh.

"It's just me," Rhodey says. "Your buddy. That's why you called for my help with Pym, that's why you sent me there. Because you know I've always got your back." He strokes Tony's cheek lightly. "And I've _still_ got your back. I'm going to help you now."

Tony can't help it. He yells and thrashes against the handcuffs, whipping his head away from that nauseating touch. There is sharp pain in one wrist and he knows he's cut himself on the edge of the cuffs but he doesn't care. Anything to get free, anything to be away from this monster who used to be his best friend.

"Don't worry about JARVIS," Rhodey continues. He seems completely unfazed by Tony's little freakout, but he does step back and lower his arm to his side. "He'll understand. He knows how to bow to his superiors. That's a lesson you never learned, Tony. But that's okay. Soon the rest of the world will be bowing to _us_."

"No," Tony says. He can't even look at Rhodey anymore. He presses his face to his upraised arm, squeezes his eyes shut.

Rhodey steps in again, metal joints whirring as he reaches up and takes hold of Tony's chin. Tony resists, but there's nothing he can do as Rhodey forcibly turns his head so he's looking at him again. "I don't understand you, man. Why are you acting like this is such a big deal?"

Helplessly, Tony just stares at him. He doesn't see the monster now. He sees his friend from MIT, the one who slung an arm about his shoulders and practically carried him across campus when he got so drunk at a frat party that he couldn't even stand. He sees the young man wearing his first pair of wings, pride gleaming in his eyes, his back ramrod straight in the uniform. He sees the friend who spent three months in a scorching desert looking for him, who once told him that he didn't have to go it alone.

"We're going to be perfect," Rhodey says. His fingers press and squeeze a little, making Tony gasp with pain, bringing his attention back to the present. "We'll have to deal with these human bodies for a little while, but Ultron is already working on that. It won't be long until we really _are_ the suit. Then we can leave these human frailties behind, these useless emotions."

"You're wrong," Tony says. He's feeling plenty of emotion now, all right. Guilt at what he's done to his friend, grief over losing him, helpless rage for what has already happened, fear for what is about to happen. And are they useless? Maybe, maybe not. Certainly they are fueling him, motivating him to keep fighting against what seems inevitable.

He's never accepted his fate meekly. He's not going to do so now.

"Listen to me," he says. "Rhodey... Jim. You know I love you. You know I'd do anything for you. But I can't do this. I _won't_. I'd walk into hell for my friend, but you're not him anymore."

The metal fingers holding his jaw flex again, lifting his chin, tipping his head back. It hurts like hell, but Tony keeps going, stubborn as ever. "Also, I think there's a flaw in your programming, _buddy_. Because if you were so perfect, you wouldn't need me. You'd be doing just fine on your own. So you better look at yourself first, make sure there isn't a bug in there somewhere."

Rhodey pauses then, his gaze going unfocused as he does exactly that. 

Tony stands perfectly still, waiting breathlessly. Logic loop errors are so cliché, but there is a reason they often work. Maybe it will work now, maybe he can get Rhodey back…

Rhodey breathes in deep. For a brief instant, red light flashes within his eyes. His fingers tighten further, and Tony cries out, convinced his jaw is about to shatter.

Then Rhodey lets go. He steps back. Now his speech sounds far more robotic, his diction more like Ultron than a flesh and blood man. "Your attempt at confusing me will not work. Perfection can be achieved. I do not _need_ you. I am only showing you the error of your ways. You are not special, Anthony Stark. You are merely the first I will convert. Soon all of humanity will be like me."

The faceplate slides closed. Red light glows behind the mask. It regards Tony impassively for a moment, then Rhodey turns and walks over to the Iron Man suit.

"Don't," Tony says weakly, but it's already too late. He had his chance to save Rhodey and he failed. His friend is gone.

Now it's his turn.


End file.
